Preview Michael Giacchino’s John Carter Soundtrack

I’m of two minds about listening to movie soundtracks before I see the movie. On one hand, the music and the film are meant to evoke a certain emotional feeling that will forever be etched in tandem in your memory so that whenever you hear the refrains, you slip back to whatever emotional state your found yourself in the first time you saw and heard the film. That’s part of the magic of film making. But there are some movie composers whose music not only stands alone, but foreshadows the film so well, that it feels like you’re receiving an introduction to a friend of a friend whom you know will be among your closest personal circle from now until eternity. Michael Giacchino’s compositions fall into the latter category.

So I’m happy to have found these three small snippets of music from the upcoming Disney film “John Carter.” Yes, there is some phrasing that will be familiar to fans of Giacchino’s work. Yet it is as different from Ratatouille or Cars 2 as it is similar. There’s something magic in that too.

John Carter – John Carter’s Theme

John Carter – Pursuit of Dejah

John Carter – Dejah’s theme

I love how Giacchino maintains his own style, let does mimicry at the same time. Many echoes of the best of John Williams’ grand scope scores in there.